Baby on the way... tips for a first time parent?

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Our first started sleeping through the night at around 6 weeks. If they are eating fine, and gaining weight, this is perfectly fine.

#### you.

7.5 months for us.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

#### you.

7.5 months for us.

The point is to not unneccesarily prolong the stage where they don't sleep through the night, at any stage.

[tete]

Marking - I'm expecting at the end of December.

One of the only items we have for the kid so far (apart from a Flames jersey, which was the first thing we bought) is a stroller which has a bassinet attachment. My friend, who I bought the stroller from, said she used it (connected to the stroller) in the bedroom when her first son was small - saved an extra piece of baby stuff that has a limited life span. The benefit was when her son got noisy (who knew infants could be noisy sleepers?), she could just push the stroller out of the bedroom and into the hall.

I have friends who swear by cloth diapering - the key it appears is finding the right fit for your kid. One of my friends cloth diapered her twins from not long after birth until 2 1/2 or so. I'm considering it, but am not 100% sold yet.

[Sliver]

My kids are 5.5 and 4 and they still get up during the night every few nights. This past weekend my daughter woke up crying because her blankets had "spilled" off her bed. My son woke up the other night because a "monkey bit his toe."

Guy, you're not going to sleep through the night consistently for many, many years.

[Kybosh]

I'd like to high five the other childless people browsing this thread, but I can't because my hands are full of disposable income.

[ma-skis.com]

Originally Posted by habernac

the other thing to ignore from other parents: "Well so and so didn't do that at that age." No $%&* Sherlock. My baby isn't your baby. They're all different. My mother in law is a nice lady, but sometimes...

yeah, this.

We've even had the clinic nurses tell us we were feeding him too much or he was too heavy and questioned us about his diet, when we went to the doctor he said everything was perfectly normal. Pissed us off since the nurse just looked at his weight percentile and didn't bother looking at his height percentile considering they were both very high, the doctor just told us he was proportionate and just an early grower.

This happened twice. If the kid is growing, aware and happy (and you're maintaining your sanity) you're probably doing whatever it is you're doing ok.

[CaptainCrunch]

Buy a catchers glove to take with you into the delivery room.

[ma-skis.com]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

I'd like to high five the other childless people browsing this thread, but I can't because my hands are full of disposable income.

and time, don't forget how much time you have. People without kids always think they're so busy with whatever it is I used to do before I had a kid... but they're not that busy. In fact I only got one kid and i think i'm busy, but really, i got nothing on those of you with 2 or 3.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by habernac

Jogging strollers are great if you're already an active person. If you aren't, it's something pricey that looks good in your garage.

Not sure what a BOB stroller is, but if you and/or your wife are at all into going for walks, a jogging style stroller with larger air filled tires is a god send. Get one with a pivoting front wheel such as the Valco. We bought a Valco with our second, and wished we had bought it the first time around. You see, those strollers with the tiny little wheels don't handle any snow at all, crap gets into the (non-existent) bearings and you'll also kill the stroller from going up and down curbs by the time the kid hits 1 1/2 (speaking from experience).

Originally Posted by Sliver

But you'll need a "normal" stroller as well. I can't stand dopes that bumble around with giant strollers at the mall.

Yup, that's when we brought the little umbrella style stroller with the little wheels, for mall duty when the kid got to be a little older.

Originally Posted by COGENT

I have a BOB stroller and it was an incredible investment. Granted, My wife and I take our dog for an hour walk every day (and yes we have time to do that) so something like a BOB was necessary. We can't use it to jog with till 7 months (I think that's what they recommend) but my wife loves jogging so I can see it paying itself off. It is a bit of a beast though when luging it around in the back of the car.

Our Valco was a bit big, but manageable. All aluminum cuts down on the weight, and the wheels popped off easily.

Originally Posted by Sliver

Cloth diapers are ######ed. Go with disposable. You won't care at all about the environment when you're balls deep in barf and crap - you'll want to be able to cut every single hassle out of your life that you can.

Agreed. I had a friend who was all hoity toity about the cloth diapers. That lasted about 2 months, when she couldn't handle the stench and the work anymore. And they used a diaper service.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

I'd like to high five the other childless people browsing this thread, but I can't because my hands are full of disposable income.

And no love.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

I'd like to high five the other childless people browsing this thread, but I can't because my hands are full of disposable income.

Your life is also filled with emptiness and satanic hate.

At least that is what my wife tells me while trying to convince me to have a baby

[CaptainCrunch]

Love is over rated.

[ma-skis.com]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

At least that is what my wife tells me while trying to convince me to have a baby

I got fooled with the making the baby part. missed the forest for the trees on that one. good thing you got foresight.

[Finny61]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

#### you.

7.5 months for us.

LOL Yeah 6 months for us with our 1st kid, just in time for those damn teeth to start coming through. Teeth are evil, especially those last 4 molars.

[Canada 02]

thanks for all the info and opinions.

didn't think about getting a kit from the crib manufacturer to make it a fixed side crib. Will look into that tonight.

we are toying with the idea of cloth diapers mainly for cost issues. I've seen estimates that it costs $1500-2000 per baby for disposables, from birth to potty trained. If you have 3 kids, that's up to $6000 in expenses. Cloth diapers will have a pretty big upfront cost - I'd estimate $500-600 (depending on the brand) to get 30-40 diapers, but they are adjustable in size as the baby grows, and re-useable for each baby you have, assuming they don't break down with all the washing. That's a big cost savings, but doesn't factor in cost of washing (water, gas dryer, detergent), but we guess that we'll be washing lots of baby clothes, bibs and stuff might not be that much more work

for glass vs plastic bottles, we thought glass would be easier to clean in the dishwasher, and supposedly doesn't absorb antibodies from mothers milk. The down side is weight and breakability.

I jog all the time, but that might change when I'm getting no sleep after babies arrival. Like the idea of the BOB jogging stroller, but since baby is due this Christmas, it can probably wait til next spring to see if its money worth spending.

We've already done the pre-natal class. Actually, we wrote down the wrong class time, so arrived early and so peaked in on the lamaze class next door. Looked over the top, zen, new agey with meditation music, and trickling fake waterfall, and "breathe in that oxygen, feel it filling your lungs, sense it entering your blood and tissues" blah blah blah - it's certainly not something I'm interested in, but my wife is, so I guess we'll go.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by troutman

And no love.

This makes me feel , but having no parental responsibility .

[ma-skis.com]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

I jog all the time, but that might change when I'm getting no sleep after babies arrival. Like the idea of the BOB jogging stroller, but since baby is due this Christmas, it can probably wait til next spring to see if its money worth spending.
.

I'd say go with a jogging stroller right off the bat, even if you don't jog, the bigger wheels make maneuvering paths, curbs, bumps, driveways, grass, rocks, pretty much anywhere you'd walk outside a hell of a lot easier.

edit: and snow for when the chinook comes and you and your wife feel adventurous to take the baby outside that first time

[red sky]

Baby #1 due for us near the end of November. Very excited and also scared ####less. Just set up a crib. We are investing in some rather expensive PALI bedroom furniture but it will be used essentially until the little rugrat grows up and moves out. We found a US website that has a warehouse in Quebec which means you get free shipping and no international duty but pay US prices which are around 30% below what Bo Bebe charges. It is unbelievable and it RGMG that we still have that huge price discrepancy between US and Canada.

[Finny61]

One idea to help soften the expense on the diapers is passing on the idea to your wife (and whoever is organizing) about a baby shower where each person brings a box of diapers. It apparently is quite popular. We ended up receiving a pile of diapers with our 2nd kid, enough to go a few months anyways.

Personally, I was hoping for a mitre saw but the women were not very keen on the idea and the last thing I want to do is piss off 15 women in my house.

[yads]

Diapers aren't as a big of an expense as people make it out to be. We buy ours at Superstore on sale. Winds up being quite cheap maybe $40-$50/month for the first 6 months or so.

Don't listen to the people who tell you to not microwave the formula. Shake the bottle up and you're good to go, you're heating up liquid not a lasagna. This saves a ridiculous amount of time vs the boiling water method.